Cubelets are robot blocks which allow children and adults to build robots and learn. You first combine three types of Cublets to make a robot – by switching the different types of Cubelets you use, you can make a different robot just by changing one block. Every robot requires the use of a gray Cublet which is the battery Cublet who powers the fun! For this review I tested the Cubelets TWELVE which includes 12 robot blocks and two Brick Adapters which allow you to connect Lego’s to your creation. Inside the box are Cubelets – each one has a different job to do, they snap together with magnets to help them do each of their specific tasks. There are two drive modules, a rotate, a flashlight, two distance,

Drive: Contains a motor and roller wheels for moving on a horizontal surface.

Rotate: One face spins at a rate corresponding to the block’s input values.

Flashlight: The Flashlight Cubelet emits a focused beam of light from a powerful white LED. This can be used to “shine the way” for your robot to move or simply for fun!

Distance: Detects how far it is from an object. It uses infrared light and is accurate between 10 and 80 cm.

Brightness: Brightness Cubelet has an analog photocell that responds to varying light conditions

Inverse: Inverse Cubelet will (weighted) average its inputs and then output a value of one minus that average.

What we love…

Cubelets are an easy to use fun robotics for kids of all ages, there are so many different things each block robot does. Kids were so engaged they didn’t realize they were learning.

What we’d love to see…

the ability to have an extra power included in the 12 block set allowing for multiple users

Summary

Cubelets by Modular Robotics were a huge hit both with my kids and anyone else I tried them with. It’s a great way to teach STEM and encourage kids to practice cause and effect, learn programming and have fun without realizing they are learning.

Our Rating

My kids and I loved playing with Cubelets by Modular Robotics. It was amazing to see all the different combinations that we could create and quickly! We even used Cubelets at a recent Cub Scout meeting as part of the robotics requirement – it was quick and easy and the Cub Scouts could easily see the cause and effect when they added or removed blocks. We also experimented with different surfaces, using Bluetooth and Blocky with our Cubelets as well as using light detection. When I have used Cubelets with my kids and with the Cub Scouts I was amazed at how engaged they were and ready to learn. At the end of the meeting, my Cub Scouts were asking to spend more time with the robots – and as a results we decided to work on a special project that involved them. I also loved that the kids were able to take what they learned, do some research at home and then share more about the robots that they learned about. We talked about the manufacturing process and how each block was actually a small robot each with a discrete task. They are easily portable in a small box – and I know I will be keeping them in my Scout bag just in case we have extra time at the end of a meeting. I also loved there were no “wrong” ways for Cubelets to be built – this way we could mix, match and experiment to see what each robot cube did. You can even build a lego creation and using Cubelets Brick adapters bring it to life.

The only thing I wished was that the Cubelets package I was using had a second power because we split into groups at our meeting – and so we had to pass the power back and forth to power our robots.

Overall, Cubelets by Modular Robotics were a huge hit both with my kids and anyone else I tried them with. It’s a great way to teach STEM and encourage kids to practice cause and effect, learn programming and have fun without realizing they are learning.

Cublets are available from many retailers including Amazon. Prices range from $129.95 to $499.95 depending on configuration chosen.

Screenshots for iPad

(Click to enlarge)

NOTE: A product was supplied by the company for review purposes, no other form of compensation was received, all opinions stated in the review are those of the author and have been offered honestly.The links in this post may contain affiliate links where The iMums will receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on our link, this helps to support the costs of running this site and we appreciate your support.

What we love…

Step-by-step instructions, summaries, examples in lessons are presented through fun videos and songs.

What we’d love to see…

An option to remove or adjust the timer for the final challenge in each course.

Summary

A complete Math and English learning app that keeps students engaged and motivated to learn and upgrade.

Our Rating

Is your child having problems mastering a particular Math or English lesson no matter what you do to help? My youngest has been struggling to remember the basic rules of writing a simple sentence despite having done many written exercises. Then I let him have a go at the app, Learning Upgrade. To my surprise, he picked up the skills easily within the day!

What worked for my son (who is a visual learner) is the combination of teaching through catchy songs, lively animations and entertaining videos plus game-like exercises that are fun to do. Learning Upgrade is a very engaging learning app. It has lessons that he likes to watch again and again, pop-style songs (highlighting the key words) that he tries to sing along with and exercises that he is willing to redo because all the questions are attractively presented and it is easy for him to input his answers. He especially likes the app’s positive and enthusiastic response whenever he submits a correct answer.

What I like, on the other hand, is the use of visual representations, summaries and examples to teach, the helpful guided exercises that reinforce the learning points, the different ways of questioning to ensure a student’s full understanding of the topic, the comprehensive coverage and the gradual and progressive manner in which skills are being taught.

Students are allowed to progress to the next lesson only when they have earned 100 points (from correct answers) and attained at least 75% correct. A rewards system is in place to encourage students to repeat the exercises in order to improve on their scores. At the completion of a course, students have to pass the final challenge before moving to the next course. But you can also choose to unlock all the lessons in your account settings so that your child can jump to any lesson.

I appreciate how the app supports students who need a little extra help in answering the questions in the learning games that follow each video lesson. Lines in passages are underlined as they are read out. There is a speaker button to tap if students need to hear the questions or instructions again. For answers that require reading, students can hear the individual words before attempting to answer. They also have the opportunity to check their answers before submitting.

The app doesn’t miss any teaching moments either. A short animation repeating the answer follows the correct answer to give further reinforcement. When an incorrect answer is submitted, the correct answer is always demonstrated and the app does not move to the next screen until the student has enough time to review the answer.

Learning Upgrade is free to download and comes with a video on the course descriptions and 6 demo lessons (with exercises) – 3 each for Math and English. If you register with an email, you will have free access to 8 lessons for each subject. To begin, choose between English or Math and then decide between 3 starting points. You can choose to start from the beginning of the curriculum, take a placement test to determine a course that is appropriate for your child’s learning needs or just select a course level that you want to review.

Currently, the app offers 60 lessons for each of the English Upgrade level 1-5 and Math Upgrade level K-8 courses, that’s more than 900 lessons in total. A course on Algebra was also added recently. To continue beyond the free lessons, you have 3 subscription plans to choose from – $7.99 for 1 month access to all lessons, $19.99 for 3 months and $59.99 for 12 months. You can access your lessons from the web as well as your smart phones and tablets. An internet connection is required for loading the lessons and saving the student’s progress.

Learning Upgrade is a comprehensive Math and English learning app that complements the school curriculum. Lessons are professionally done and enjoyable. Review exercises are varied and effective. Whether your child is trying to catch up or stay ahead of the class, Learning Upgrade is an excellent learning companion to have.

What we’d love to see…

Summary

A Math Facts practice app that is fully adaptable to the needs of students of different abilities at different stages of Math Facts learning.

Our Rating

A mastery of Math Facts enable our kids to solve complex Math problems easily and quickly. More importantly, a fast recall of Math Facts give them the tools for handling daily life skills like telling time and counting money. If you are looking for an app for learning and memorizing Math Facts, you need to check out Math Facts To 100 by FuzzyBees.

This app teaches addition, subtraction, multiplication and division Math Facts. It is fully customizable to match what your child is working on and it is equipped with supportive learning tools that teaches your child how to solve math problems independently. These help facilitate understanding and reduce frustrations when completing math drills that are necessary in achieving Math Facts fluency.

Read on for the app’s various powerful features.

Fully Customizable Settings

The strength of this app is the flexible settings which allow you to design your own Math Facts drills. You can break down the steps to mastering Math Facts into manageable levels based on your child’s learning needs/goals and set up the app accordingly. Not only can you choose which Math Facts to learn and set how many equations to solve at each session, you can also tailor the types of equations to be solved and the kind of support to offer to your child.

Additional customizable details that further adapt the app to what your chid is familiar with are grouped under the Display section of the Settings page. These include skip counting by the multiplier or multiplicand, vertical or horizontal equation format, and the phone or calculator number pad layout. You also have the option to mute the sounds for various actions e.g. incorrect answers given.

There is no timer here but the time taken for completion of each session is recorded. A maximum of 4 different settings for different learning goals or different child can be prepared and saved at any one time.

Visual Learning Tools

The app is equipped with 3 types of interactive student tools that you can use to demonstrate to your child how to solve a math problem. Different child learns differently and presenting them with different approaches to solving the same problem allows you to discover the one that helps your child understand the concept best. This also encourages your child to seek out a different method of solving a problem when one strategy does not work.

The 3 learning tools provided in the app are the Hundred Board, Multiplication Board and a White Board. Students are free to choose the visual tool or combination of tools that they want to work with for each question. A color tool (consisting of 9 colors) is available for highlighting key numbers during the problem solving process.

The 100 Board is equipped with visual help (which you can opt out in the Settings) that highlight the steps to solving Math problems more effectively. For example, instead of counting up or down for addition and subtraction equations, students learn to get the same answer more quickly by adding or subtracting in tens (vertically) and in ones (horizontally).

If they tap and hold on any number on the board, they can also see what it means to add and subtract a quantity from this number.

For multiplication, the 100 Board will show students how to use skip counting to arrive at the answers. The visual help show the sequence of multiples (times tables) which students have to memorize.

The Multiplication Board (x2 to x10), on the other hand, helps students to multiply and divide easily within 100. Just tap the factors along the left most column and the top most row and the intersected number will give the answer.

The third tool, the White Board acts as a free space for students to do their math working. This is my youngest’s favorite as he is more comfortable with using counters which he draws on the board using the color tool. For him, the act of sharing a large number of counters equally helps him to better understand the concept of division.

Creating Math Drills

Before starting to use the app, you will need to find the Settings section that is hidden from the Students’ section. Pull down the equation box to reveal the Settings, color tool and redo buttons. The Teaching Tips and Reports sections are also accessible from the Settings section. You can learn about the various app features and how to use them in the Teaching Tips.

In the default setting, the app generates 50 random basic Math Fact equations of mixed operations in one session. Besides solving for answers to the equations, problems asking for the 1st or 2nd operand are also included (e.g. ? x 12 = 36). This is a great Math Facts workout for advanced students to improve their mental math. To modify the types of problems in this ‘Generate’ mode, you can adjust the parameters like the maximum values of the operands and results as well as the math operators tested.

To prepare drills focused on specific group(s) of Math Facts in the ‘List’ mode, you load the in-app basic facts and choose/add the one(s) to work on. Single or mixed operators, sequential or random equations, one or many problems, the choice is yours. If your child has math facts homework from school, you can even input these equations into the app. This way, your child can make use of the app’s visual tools to help him/her complete the homework.

Reports

At a glance, the reports show you the date and time, percentage of correct answers, number of equations attempted, time taken and whether visual help was used for each completed session. Tap on each session and you will see the list of equations that were answered incorrectly on the first try, so that you can have your child work on them again.

Summary

Math Facts to 100 is a dynamic app for learning the basic Math Facts visually and progressively. It is designed to meet the needs of children of different abilities and students at different stages of Math Facts fluency through instructional scaffolding. Highly recommended.

Math Facts To 100 is an app that generates math facts equations and provides visualization for the equations using the hundred board.

Giveaway

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What we love…

fun beach themed app with seven mini games and two interactive mini games which have kids learning and having fun all at the same time!

What we’d love to see…

beachball themed activity, naming of objects in the sand art or even storytime at the beach

Summary

Overall, this is a fun beach themed app which is great for the summer or perhaps even a snowy day when kids are wishing for a nice sunny day. It has good educational content which has kids learning and having fun at the same time. Best for preschool or early elementary school ages.

Our Rating

Grandma’s Beach Fun by Fairlady Media is a fun new beach themed app which has you joining Grandma and Grandpa on a trip to the beach – sans the sand in your car on the way home! The app has seven educational games ranging from: find the beach gear, beach art, word rhyming, umbrella matching (fun twist on typical picture matching), math (shake the coconut trees to add numbers up to 12), word find (beach themed!) and my kids favorite tide pool critters. This app, aimed at the preschool and early elementary age children includes math; literacy via reading, spelling, rhyming; water sports, art using beach shells and fireworks. Skills practiced include fine motor, working memory, cause and effect.

This is a cute app which had a lot of enjoyment for my kids. Grandma and Grandpa are back again – this time with a great beach themed app – perfect for anytime especially those long car rides during the summer or perhaps a rainy day outside. There are seven educational games which include: math, literacy, memory, creativity and more as well as videos about beach animals and water sports, make your own fireworks and help Grandpa avoid obstacles while water skiing! One of my favorite things about Fairlady Media games is the parental control which allows you to turn on and off specific mini games if they are too hard or too easy for your child – this meant that my older son who has mastered the addition and found it “too easy” was still able to enjoy other mini games like the airplane rhyme, waterskiing jump, and even the beach themed crosswords. My older son enjoyed the waterskiing jump and airplane rhyme the best out of the mini games . When we packed Grandma’s beach bag we also talked about why each item was important like sunscreen, a towel or even a pail and shovel. My kids really like this series of apps, although I personally can’t imagine my grandparents going water skiing. The umbrella matching was a fun twist on a typical memory match game with the umbrella animating to display the item and then the umbrella’s disappearing as the items were matched. The app interspersed more fun activities like waterskiing, the touch tank and art with harder activities like the word find or math.which kept my son interested. He liked that you could touch and drag across to highlight the words within the app and as a mom I liked that you could turn the hints on and off. The fireworks activity was a fun way to cap off the app.

I’d love to see a fun beach ball themed activity – one of my favorites with my kids when we go to the beach is to toss it around. We also enjoy building sandcastles – similar to the art where we were able to take different objects to make a picture. It would be great if the different objects, like shells or driftwood were named as you made the art. I’d also love to see a beach themed story of some sort added to the app so kids could either listen or practice reading it.

Overall, this is a fun beach themed app which is great for the summer or perhaps even a snowy day when kids are wishing for a nice sunny day. It has good educational content which has kids learning and having fun at the same time. Best for preschool or early elementary school ages.

NOTE: A fee was received to expedite this review to the top of our waiting list but this payment has not influenced the objectivity of the review and all opinions have been offered honestly. Links in this review may earn us affiliate income which helps to support The iMums.

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Meet the iMums

The iMums - Amanda, Alison, Mary and Grace - are four mothers from different parts of the world dedicated to informing parents about the best digital stories, educational apps, fun games and technology products available for their children. We also offer the latest news in apps for kids, interesting articles, developer interviews, free apps and regular giveaways! Read more.

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